The Pixar films have always demonstrated a pronounced reverence for the expanding mind inside every child, and that reverence finds a perfect storytelling outlet in the fifteenth movie released by the studio.

It’s as if they took the sentiment evoked by the ‘Production Babies’ list that appears in the credits of every Pixar film, and spun an entire movie out of it. 

The majority of Inside Out takes place inside the head of an eleven-year-old girl named Riley, who struggles to adjust to life in San Francisco after her family is forced to move there.

We experience Riley’s perceptions via characters who embody her five principal emotions — Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Fear (Bill Hader). As Riley faces certain challenges for the first time, her emotions find themselves a little out of their depth.

When things get really shaky, Joy is cast out of Riley’s emotive core, and must find her way back through Riley's conciousness to regain control.

Every subsequent Pixar movie can be relied upon to look better than the last one, but the manner in which the inner workings of Riley’s mind have been visualised here is truly something to behold.

The appealing emphasis on glowing, rolling balls (which represent memories) sometimes makes it seem like the world's most wonderful pinball game — I was utterly transfixed.

Plus the humor inherent to the concept is repeatedly accessed without the jokes ever getting too coy. However, as with all the best Pixar movies, it’s not the visuals or the laughs that make the biggest impression, but rather the characters and the story.

Inside Out’s success in this regard locates it amongst the studio’s most enduring works. The film empowers its younger viewers with a clear-eyed, unsentimental portrayal of the trials of childhood, and the finalé outdoes Toy Story 3’s in terms of emotional intensity. Take tissues.